Wire-nail machine



:No MoIel.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. L. A. FONTAINE.

WIRE NAIL MACHINE.

No. 360,343, Patented Mar. 29, 1887.

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(No Model.)

L. A. FONTAINE.

WIRE NAIL MACHINE.

Patented Ma.1.29, 1887.

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LOUIS A. FONTAINE, OF TOLEDO, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONEIIALF TO OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

WIRE-NAIL MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 360,343I dated March 29, 1887.

Application filed August 10, 1886. Serial No. 210,517. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LoUIs A. FONTAINE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Toledo, in the county of Lucas and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wire-Nail Machines; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to the class of ma chines to which wire is fed from a continuous strand and is severed into predetermined lengths and pointed by cutting-dies, the head ing being performed by the reciprocating action of a plunger,which upsets the end of the strand presented to it whenever a length has been severed and formed into a nail.

My improvement relates particularly to the cutting and pointing dies, it being my object to provide a construction whereby these dies shall operate true and accurately by a positive motion in performing theirfunetions, and enable nails to be made of all the different lengths in which they are required in the same machine by simply varying the stroke of the aetuating-pitman-au operation readily and speedily accomplished-the construction also permitting ready removal and adjustment of the cutting and pointing dies, or either of them, when one set suitable for wire of a certain thickness,forming nails of corresponding thickness, is required to be replaced by another set for wire of a different thickness, or when the dies have to be removed for repair.

My invention consists in a wire-nail 1nachine having a stationary guide-block provided with a longitudinal recess affording a Snug receptacle for cutting and pointing dies, which are actuated by the direct application of power to reciprocate in the recess of the guideblock on the same plane at right angles tothe wire; and it further consists in the general construction of my improvement, as also in certain details of construction and combinations of parts, all as hereinafter more fully set forth.

In the drawings, Figure l is a plan view of the entire machine, Fig. 2, a central horizontal section of the same, showing the parts in side eleva-tion, Fig. 3, a sectional side eleva tion of a portion of the machine, showing the mechanism for operating the cutting and pointing dies and for completing the severing operation of the same when necessary; Fig. 4E, a cross-section taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3 and viewed in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 5, a detail view of the cam and spring which actuate the striking device for completA ing the severing operation; Fig. G, an end View of one of the cutting and severing dies, and Fig. 7 a perspective view ot' the pitmanadjusting detail.

The operative parts of the machine are all supported by the frame A, provided with an unobstructed opening, i', through which the nails of any oi' the lengths made may fall to the ground, or into a receptacle provided to receive them, as fast as they are finished.

As my invention relates only to the cutting and pointing dies and their immediate eonnections, the other parts of the machine, which I do not consider to be new, are referred to without elaborate description of their particular constructions.

Extending from one side of the machine are bearings q, supporting a stationary guide-rod, q', for the reciprocating bar q2, placed transversely upon the machine and connected at its outer end by a pitnian, p, with a wheel or pnl-- ley, p, on the corresponding end oi' the drivingshaft B, the pulley p' having in its Outer face an adjusting device of common construction for regulating the stroke ot' the pitinan p, the same comprising a dovetailed recess, p2, to receive a plate, p, on the inner end of the pitnian-head p". The driving-shaft is supported in suitable bearings on the frameA, to lie transversely across the machine, and carries on its opposite end a fly-wheel, o, a driving-pulley, 0', and an idle pulley, o2.

Ou the inner end of the bar (ji, at the forward end of the same, is a head, q", supported in a recess formed to receive it in the bar upon a. shaft, q, extending across the recess, the head Q3 carrying -a downward-projecting 1inger, c, held and adjustable by means of a setscrew, n', to maintain its point or chamfered edge in contact with the Wire IV, which is fed to the machine by the engagement with it of the finger a and the reciprocating movement of the bar q2, produced by the rotation of the driving-shaft, from a coil (not shown) one end of which is passed over guide-pulleys m through an opening in the bar q2 and between the dies, hereinafter described. A spring, g, extends backward from the head q, and is provided at its extremity with a set-screw, g', to adjust it with reference to a spring, f, extending from the bar q2, whereby in the forward movement of the latter the head q is tipped on its bearing q to cause the point of the finger n to engage with the wire, while in the backward movement of the bar q2 the contact of the Wire with the finger-point will rock the head g3 backward and allow the finger to slide over the wire.

C and C are the heading dies, or those against which the plunger D strikes to upset the end of the wire in forming a head of what afterward becomes a nail upon the severing and pointing action upon the strand of wire being fed to the machine of dies, for the purpose hereinafter described. The lower die, C, is stationary and circular, while the upper one, C, also circular, is movable, and, like the die C', adjustable in its operative position, by means of a set-screw, t, to permit, by turning the die, the recesses t of different sizes around their faces toward their edges to be brought coincident for the p urpose of forming heads of the different sizes required. The motion of the upper die, C, is intermittent, to produce a tight hold upon the Wire while the head is being formed by the stroke ofthe plunger D, the intermittent `motion being produced by its connection with a bent arm, E, fulcrumed at one end to the frame A, and in contact at its opposite end with a cam, E', on the drivingshaft, which operates in the rotation of the latter to press the arm E and die C, which it carries,down against the resistance of aspring, y, underneath the arm, (which spring tends to raise it and maintain the die O out of close .contact with the die CQ) whereby the opening between the dies for the passage of the wire is reduced with each depression of the arm E to clamp the wire with sufficient firmness to prevent its being driven back by the stroke of the plunger in forming the head.

The plunger, which moves on a' plane inline with the opening between the dies C and C', is moved backward by the action cfa cam, F, on a beveled rib, F, upon the upper surface of the plunger, and forced against a resisting spring, G, comprising diverging arms ofelastic material, preferably of wood and of the hickory or ash variety, held at their apex to the door and confined, toward their diverging extremities, between a cross-bar, G', supported on rods G2, extending from the end of the machine and the forked end of the plunger. The backward movement of the plunger compresses the arms of the spring G, and the recoil of thelatter, when released by the cam F, forces the forward extremity of the plunger Immediately in front of the dies C and C' is a stationary block, H, supported transversely on the machine and provided with an opening coincident with that between the dies C and C', and with a rectangular recess to receive and form a guide for the dies I and I', comprising eacha rectangular metal bar provided on one end with the cutting and pointing surface, as shown in Fig. 6. The dies I and I are inserted into the recess in the block H to cause the cutting and pointing extremities to face each other, and a cover, on', is provided for the recess. V

This particular construction and arrangement of the recessed stationary guideblock and dies I and .I/ constitute a very important feature of myimprovement. Hitherto in wirenail machines operating upon the same general principle as mine the cutting and pointing dies, which work at right angles to the wire in the same plane, have been rigidly secured upon reciprocating blocks which move in the stationary guide-block, thereby causing these dies to be actuated by the indirect application of the driving power, instead of by the direct application thereof, and, as a consequence, without producing the positive and accurate stroke of the dies which is imparted to them in my machine. Hy construction, further, avoids the necessity of exercising the great care iu the setting or adjustment of the dies which has to be observed when they are fixed upon sliding blocks, as heretofore practiced, whereby the operations of removing and readjusting the dies, so frequently and unavoidably necessary in machines of this class for sharpening and altering purposes may be IOO IIO

performed with comparatively little loss of l time, the saving of which is a veryl important consideration, since the degree of desirability of these machines depends principally upon the quanti-ty of theI `linished product they can turn ont in a given time, so that every period of interruption to the operation of the ma chine which can be reduced affords an increase in the machines capacity.

Each die is connected at its outer extremity by means of a link, Z, with a vertical arm, K', ofv a rock-shaft, K, supported in bearings at the side of the frame A, to be parallel with the same, and provided at the extremity opposite the arm K with a vertical a'rm, K2, carrying at its extremitya roller, 7c, which lies within the cam-groove i of a pulley, L, on the driving-shaft and rotating with the latter and operating to reciprocate the dies II in a hori zontal plane at right angles to the wire by rocking the shafts K.

The operation of the parts ot' the machine thus far described is as follows: Rotation of the driving-shaft turns the cams L L and F, the latter, with the assistance of the spring G, reciprocating the plunger and the former the dies I and I', and the rotation of the shaft likcwise reciprocates, through its connection by thepitmanp with the bar ff, the finger a, which feeds the wire through the openings in the bar q2, between the dies C C and in the block H. Phe arrangement is such that when the plunger is released from engagement with the cam F and forced against the end of the strand of wire projected beyond the dies C C by the forl ward movement of the finger n in its reciprocation, the arm E being at the same time forced down by the cam E', to hold the wire firmly between the dies C C while the head is being formed, the cam-pulleys L will have caused the dies I I to separate to their farthest limit, thus freeing the passage of the plunger to the face of thev adjacent dies C C'. The return or backward movement of the plunger is aecompanied by the forward movement of the feed device, which projects the strand of wire the desired distance beyond the dies C G, when the dies I I are forced toward each other, and point and cut the wire at a distance from the head to which the wire is fed by the forward movement of the linger a while the plunger is being forced back. As it sometimes happens that the cutting and pointing dies do not completely sever the wire in each operation, I provide an oscillatory strikerarm, M, to strike the wire immediately after the operation of the dies I I. rlhis striker-arm M comprises a rod curved andiattened toward its forward extremity and extending over the wire directly in front of the dies I I/ from a frame M, supported on a rockshaft, M2, on the frame A of the machine, and having a bent arm, O, eX- tending backward underneath a notched pulley, N, on the driving-shaft and over the end of a spring, P.' (See Fig. 5.) The pulleyT N raises the striker-arm in its rotation from the notch, and when it reaches the spring P the latterI forces the armO into said notch, thereby lowering with a sudden stroke the striker-arm M, and causing it to knock against the nail formed on the wire, if it shall not have been completely severed by the action of the cutting and pointing dies I l. rIhe cause of the failure to sever the wire may be drilling of the cutting-edges or wearing of the faces, whereby they do not meet in their movement toward each other. In the latter case they may be adj usted closer together by means of set-screws h, provided for the purpose; or, in either case, they may be readily removed to be sharpened or replaced by other dies of the same size as to their operating-faces; or by other dies, if the size of the wire used for making the nails is changed, by disconnecting them from the links L, and withdrawing them from the recessed guide-block H. The insertion of other dies is as readily accomplished as the removal of the dies, as just described. It will thus be seen that the motion ofthe dies I I is positive and true, and that their action is aecurate, in the sense that they always operate on the same plane, there being no possibility of the sagging or displacement from such plane of either; also, that by simply adjusting the stroke of the pitman p the feeding operation may be timed with reference to the heading and the cutting and pointing operations, to project a greater or shorter length of wire, after each heading, to the dies I I', depending upon a longer or shorter size of nail required, and that, owing to the absence of any obstruction in the opening ll-,which is longer than any nail made, the nails may discharge from the machine, no matter of what length they may be, as fast as they are formed.

That I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination, with a wire-nail machine, of a stationary recessed guide-block, H, and cutting and pointing dies I I, fitting within the recess in the guide-block and reciprocated by power applied directly to them, substantiallyas and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination, with a wire-nail machine, of a stationary recessed guide-block, H, and adjustable cutting and point-ing dies I l', fitting within the recess in the guide-block and reeiprocated by power applied directly to them, substantially as and for the purpose set forth..

3. In a wire-nail machine, the combination, with the driving-shaft operating the plunger and feed devices and the heading-dies,ofcam pulleys L on the drivingshaft, cutting and pointing dies I l, and rock-shafts K, connecting the dies I I with the eanrpulleys L, whereby rotation of the drivingshaft oscillates the rock-shafts to reciprocate the cutting and pointing dies in the same plane at right angles to the wire, substantially as described.

4. In a wire-nail machine, the combination, with the driving-shaft operating the plunger and feed devices and the heading-dies, of pulleys L on the driving-shaft provided with cam'- grooves vi, cutting and pointing dies I I, supported in a guide-block on the frame of the machine, and rock-shafts K, supported in bearings at the sides of the machine and hav ing each a vertical arm, K,linked to a cutting and pointing die, and a vertical arm, K2, earrying a friction-roller within a groove, l,Whereby rotation of the driving-shalt and pulleys L oscillates the rock-shafts K and reciprocates the dies I I laterally in the same plane at right angles to the wires, substantially as described.

5. In a wire-nail machine, the combination, with the driving-shaft operating the plunger and feed devices and the headi11g-dies,ofpulleys L on the driving-shaft, provided with camgrooves @adjustable cutting and pointing dies I I', supported in a covered guide-block on the frame of the machine, rock-shafts K, support- ITO ed in bearings at the sides of the machine and ellatory strikernrm, M, actuated to strike by having each :L vertical arm, K', linked to' a a spring, P, and raised after erich stroke by a Io Cutting and pointing die, and a Vertical arm, notched pulley, N, 0n bhe driving-shaft, sub- K2,carryingafriction-rollerWithin agroove, i, l sbantially as described.

whereby rotation el' the driving-Shaft and LOUIS A. FONTAINE. pulleys L oseillates the rock-shafts K and re- In presence 0f eiprocates the dies I I laterally in the same J. W. DYRENFORTH,

plane at ighb angles to the wire, and :1n os- HENRY HUDSON. 

